TheHuntGoesOn's Report: From There to Here BAFTA Screening (7th May 2014)

TheHuntGoesOn attended the BAFTA Preview Screening of the first episode of From There to Here in London on 7th May. Here she gives her view on the first episode and meeting Phil...

Without giving any spoilers away, I can report that this is the best and meatiest role Phil has had in a long time. It requires, and of course gets, a much more reflective and subtle style than some of his more recent TV outings (e.g. Big School). He gives an absolutely wonderful performance, which will obviously develop further as the series progresses. It was pointed out in the Q&A that the character has trouble expressing himself directly, everything is very oblique, and that comes across in the way every slight change of expression, every movement, conveys volumes of repressed or undiscovered emotion.

Unlike, say, "Hidden", this series portrays the very real and very human dilemmas of a man caught up in the everyday stresses and strains to which we are all subject, until a sudden event makes him question the life he's living and starts him on a course which will change everything for him and those around him. The first hour-long episode is packed with a dizzying amount of plot development, without ever feeling that it's skimping on anything or cutting any corners. It is just so well written, with marvellous roles all round, not just for Phil but for Liz White as the woman who becomes his catalyst for change, Stephen Mackintosh as his ne'er-do-well brother, Saskia Reeves as his wife, the outstanding Bernard Hill as his tyrannical adoptive father and Daniel Rigby as his son. At the end we got a trailer full of giant economy size spoileroonies, it wasn't clear whether it covered both the remaining episodes or just one. I'd have much preferred not to know so much, but the Beeb WILL keep doing this, and in a cinema you don't even get the option of turning the TV off!

This series has been justly described as a love letter to Manchester, and that comes across in waves, both through the brilliant photography - there are many wonderful, sweeping aerial shots which soar over the city and its surroundings as though it were a place from a fairytale, a lovely tracking shot of the windswept promenade and pier at Southport and wide shots as Phil's car (another Audi!!!) zooms along the roads - and through its loving depiction of the city's resilience, shrugging off the devastation of the Arndale bomb to rebuild the place even bigger and better than before, while showing that this brave new world had losers as well as winners.

The Q&A has been recounted in great detail by other hands than mine, so I won't recount it again, except to say what a joy it was seeing Phil on such great form. He looked terrific, of course (does he ever not??), with the light glinting off his golden mane (clipped attractively short) and Mr Gunn's stubble. Yum, and again yum. He has obviously enjoyed this project enormously and it means a lot to him to be able to work with such a great script and such a magnificent cast.

The Q&A could only last about 40 minutes - we were all thrown out of the cinema at 8.30 because another preview screening was due to start at 9.00. A small number of us found him in the bar and took the opportunity to exchange a few words with him during a lull in conversation. I made a point of saying how much I'd enjoyed the first episode and how much I'm looking forward to seeing the other two, and commending, not only the magnificent acting all round, but also the really poetic photography, especially a couple of scenes which I won't mention yet as I want to keep this post spoiler free - I'll post again after the first episode has aired.

Roll on 22 May - we're all in for such a treat!

From There to Here will air on Thursday 22nd May at 9pm on BBC One. For more pictures from this event, please visit the event album.

Copyright @PhilipGlenisterFans. All Rights Reserved. This is a non-profit website, and all material on this site is meant for entertainment purposes only. No copyright infringement is intended and all content provided or linked to on this site is copyrighted to their respective owners, photographers, and representatives. Watermarks are meant for site promotion only and do not indicate ownership. If you come across something you would like removed, please contact us before taking further action and we will remove it.